The 2012 AFL debut of the GWS Giants is the culmination of efforts by the powerful, cashed up body that administers Aussie Rules to make inroads into the rugby league-obsessed, poor and predominantly refugee…
Telecommunications giant Optus managed to convince the Federal Court in Sydney this week that there’s a legal blindspot in relation to its download pay-per-view service. Telstra – given its business relationship…
Yesterday’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding…
Anyone with a passing interest in Australian football will know the AFL Grand Final is unlike any other game of the season. There’s more hype, more expectation, more emotional investment from players and…
The Federal Government’s plan to introduce pre-commitment systems on pokie machines in order to reduce problem gambling has become a major political headache. A campaign by Clubs Australia targeting Labor…
“Fuck you, Wing, your sister has Down syndrome!” These words were once hurled at NSW rugby league star Craig Wing while he was playing for the Sydney Roosters against the Canterbury Bulldogs at the Sydney…
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou constantly reminds us that women love Aussie Rules and that the AFL returns that respect and allegiance. The key expression of this regard, the AFL’s Respect and Responsibility…
Interesting to read AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou’s thoughts on the next broadcasting rights deal, given that the league has yet to work out how to divvy up the money from the deal it recently negotiated with…
Welcome to our “In Conversation” with AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou and Stuart Macintyre, Professor of History at Melbourne University (and a lifelong Hawthorn supporter). The Australian Football…
The lucrative broadcast rights deal signed earlier this year by the AFL demonstrates the pulling power of “live” sport in a TV market which is increasingly becoming fragmented by more choice on more platforms…
Almost 15 years have passed since Rupert Murdoch declared that “sport absolutely overpowers film and everything else in the entertainment genre,” yet the media mogul’s words still capture the reality of…
To share or not to share – that is the question of moment in the AFL. The AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA) appears determined that player payments should be a percentage of league revenue. The AFL administration…
This week the media in AFL states have been discussing racist comments made by members of crowds at Australian Rules games. Sudanese-born North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw was racially abused while playing…
When the AFL has a weekend of inaccurate goal-kicking, media attention invariably turns to why set-shot goal-kicking hasn’t improved while other areas of footy have. As a footy fan, I have an interest…
Competition between twins hit the headlines this week as, for the first time in AFL history, identical twins Brad and Chris Scott will coach different teams against each other on Saturday. Both twins played…
The Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood has come and gone yet again, as well as the inevitable publicity surrounding the most hyped home-and-away match of the season. You could be forgiven…
The professional Australian Rules football season is underway and the better part of the nation is now transfixed until early October by its myriad machinations. At this early point in the season, it is…
The intense public interest in protective headgear following recent cases of high-profile AFL players sustaining concussion and other head or face injuries, is understandable. Unfortunately we have limited…
Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University